LIBRgY^BESS. 

©3jHp ©jjp^rig^t Tf n. 

Shelf .±±?£ 5 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



GAIN BY LOSS 



OR 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE 




" Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness. " 



BOSTON 

D LOTHROP COMPANY 

WASHINGTON STREET OPPOSITE BROMFIELD 



The Library 

OF CoNr.vESS 



WASHINGTON 



COPYRIGHT, 1891, 
BY 

D. Lothrop Company. 



TO 

THE MEMORY OF MY EXAMPLE AND FRIEND, 

MARY STODDARD JOHNSON 

" WORDS OF GOOD CHEER WERE MOST 
NATIVE TO HER LIPS." 



CONTENTS. 



L 

ILLNESS A VOCATION — ITS VARIOUS LESSONS — 
ITS TEMPTATIONS, TRIALS AND BLESSINGS 

II. 

HINTS AND HELPS CONNECTED WITH THE 
PERSONAL TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS OF 
ILLNESS 

III. 

DISAPPOINTMENTS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS — 
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ILLNESS 

IV. 

CONCERNING MEDICAL ADVICE AND VISITS — 
INTERCOURSE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS 
— GIVING TROUBLE — TAKING OPIATES — 
NURSES AND ATTENDANTS 



6 



CONTENTS. 



V. 

REGARDING PRAYER FOR RECOVERY — CON- 
VALESCENCE — ITS PLEASURES AND ITS 
TRIALS 

VI. 

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH — 
THE FEAR OF DEATH, AND THE FEAR 
TAKEN AWAY — THE DESIRED HAVEN — 
SAFE ANCHORAGE 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE 



i. 

ILLNESS A VOCATION : ITS VARIOUS LESSONS. 
ITS TEMPTATIONS, TRIALS AND BLESSINGS. 

Tenderly mysterious are the Lord's ways 
with his children. Always some over-paying 
comfort is wrapped within our sorrow. When 
you know Him better, dear F., you will be 
cheered through the one by a believing vision 
of the other. Nevertheless even when thus 
cheered, it is one thing for the soul to grasp 
at a vision of God's comforts and another to 
attain to their actual possession. You ask 

7 



8 THE GARMENT OE PRAISE. 



how you can accomplish this ; you also ask 
what I mean by calling illness a vocation, and 
you beg me to enumerate the various lessons 
it is meant to teach. You tell me you have 
already tried to discover the blessings linked 
with it, but you have failed to find them. I 
think one cause of this failure consists in 
the fact that you have sought the blessings 
apart from the trials. This you must not do, 
for the two are as closely connected as sun- 
shine and shadow. And the loving alleviations 
from the Veiled Hand, which prove that " the 
everlasting arms are underneath," could not 
be manifested were there no felt need of 
their support. There is an infinite joy, 
although just now it may be hidden from you, 
in the twofold care which thus combines 
wisdom's discipline with love's consolation. 
The peculiar trials which accompany illness 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 9 



are wonderfully rich in evidence of this. I say 
trials, for you must not expect, however dear 
and manifold its consolations, that sickness 
will ever be a pleasant thing, or a condition 
without many and great trials. Be brave 
enough to accept this truth, and the fact that 
it is an experience which tests faith, patience 
and submission, in ways unlike, and involving 
an entirely different order of trials, duties, 
temptations and blessings than those met 
with in health. 

But, while I bid you open your heart to 
this knowledge, I also bid you remember it 
is no part of your duty to look beyond a day 
at a time ; leave to-morrow's pain and weak- 
ness until to-morrow comes with its own " daily 
bread," the strength sufficient, which, accord- 
ing to the heavenly promise, will be made 
perfect in weakness. How tenderly the 



io THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



Lord's mindfulness in times of illness is 
revealed by this gentle hiding of the future. 
He does not let us see the length and rough- 
ness of the way all at once, and at every step 
He grants a blessing. 

This assertion leads me back to your ques- 
tion regarding the blessings and trials of ill- 
ness. Before we consider them, I pause to 
note the complex nature of illness. If 
received merely with reference to ourselves, 
it becomes purely private property. I mean, 
the lessons it teaches, and the blessings it 
brings, are simply of personal value. In a 
certain sense it is meant to thus develop in- 
dividual grace, faith, patience and holiness. 
But this personal element is not meant to 
stamp out affection, feeling and all the sweet 
emotions of love among friends and relatives. 
On the contrary, it is meant to define their 



THE GARMENT OE PRAISE. 



1 1 



true value, harmony and balance in working 
out the spiritual life included in the sphere 
of influence, which especially belongs to 
those who are " set apart," to learn the 
" ministry of healing " through suffering and 
weakness, that they may " comfort others 
with the comfort wherewith they have been 
comforted of God." St. Paul emphasizes 
this high calling of consolation by the re- 
minder that " none of us liveth to himself, 
and no man dieth to himself." 

This is a truth, dear F., which encompasses 
the most secluded life, and it is freighted 
w"ith comfort for invalids. It sanctifies illness 
into a vocation, " the state of life into which 
it hath pleased God to call you." And yet, 
you say, illness makes you feel like a caged 
bird ; you are constantly tempted to rebel 
against the restraint imposed by it. But it 



12 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



will do no good to beat your wings against 
the bars of your cage ; stay on your perch 
quietly ; try to sing, then you will not feel 
the bondage and limitations so much. And 
remember it is God who has shut you in. 
Yes, I know it is hard, I know you wanted to 
do so much, and now God has laid his restrain- 
ing Hand upon your active service, neverthe- 
less present duties and present work remain. 
Do not lose the blessing they hold in reach- 
ing out after what you have been wont to 
call a wider usefulness, which, by the way, 
I very much doubt its being. But, be this 
as it may, certainly God can do his work in 
his own way. Try and learn this ; it will 
cost many a sharp struggle ; it will require 
earnest, daily, hourly conflict, great patience, 
great faith, submission, and much love. I 
repeat, it will prove no easy task to humbly 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 13 

lay aside the activity you crave, and in its 
place to be content to simply accept God's 
will in place of self-will, but it is worth all 
it costs. And when you learn it, you will 
find the highest reach of the soul is found in 
communion with Him whose divine power can 
make your quiet, seemingly useless, secluded 
life, a dear gladness, warmth and cheer to 
others, simply because you have become dead 
to self, and live now, to reflect the light and 
warmth of his love. 

It will take a long time to fully learn this, 
" because one is slow to take in the stilling 
of self-acting that God may act in us his 
inner work." Meanwhile, many precious ex- 
planations of the " needs be " of trial will 
meet you, if you watch and listen for them. 
The deepest and the dearest are never to 
be told, but there are some that may be 



14 THE GARMENT OE PRAISE. 



recorded to quicken the outlook and the up- 
look of kindred sufferers. But they belong to 
other letters in this series of " Leaflets for 
Invalids." Our object now is to seek the 
blessings I promised to help you find. 
Life's shifting tides turn so easily as we seek 
to trace the Lord's tender mercies, like chil- 
dren seeking flowers, we will find 

" A guerdon all undreamt of 
When first our quest begun." 

We will find many a time, " the heart's sore 
losses have proved the spirit's sweetest gain." 

Yes, surely it is gain to learn to so love 
and desire God's will that we are content 
to trust Him, even if his ordering be a life- 
long illness. Another dear blessing that 
comes hand in hand with the trial of sick- 
ness, is the fact that it is a condition which 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 15 



keeps us from many evils. Think how many 
things it puts out of your reach. And con- 
sider how many it brings within your reach. 
There is a great blessing also in the ten- 
dency of illness and weakness to simplify 
faith. Pain is something so real it can 
hardly fail to bring one into the presence of 
truth and sincerity. Still another mercy 
consists in its aptness to bring into notice 
the homely duties close at hand ; it accent- 
uates also, what we are wont to call trifles, 
and sometimes regard as too little to amount 
to anything except to vex and irritate, which 
proves their importance, for "if they have 
power to stir evil emotions in the heart, 
surely they can produce an equal amount of 
good" 

I remember reading a definition of trifles 
which has helped me, hence I will pass it 



16 THE GARMENT OE PRAISE. 

on to you. "Their very character of trifles 
makes them useful ; they try you secretly, 
insignificantly, and yet sharply. Think of 
the crown of thorns borne for you. Did that 
cause no pain ? Yet, what are thorns ! " A 
helpful rule to apply to the doing of little 
things is to try to do them for God's glory, 
without letting any one know, and this is a 
good rule to apply also to great things. 
" Sickness, inward crosses which others know 
not of, are sent to empty us of self, and to be 
emptied of self and filled with God, is the 
greatest lesson we have to learn." 

And be assured, dear F . that if you 

rightly receive your trial of sickness, what 
you do will continually have more of God, 
and less of yourself in it, hence it will be 
more precious to Him, and more valuable to 
those about you. Therefore, what I want 



THE GARMENT OE PRAISE. 17 



to impress upon you is, that you must seek 
to live the life hid with Christ in God, not 
merely do the work. " Live a patient, quiet 
life, stayed on God, and the work will come 
out of it." You will do it simply, uncon- 
sciously. Try then to keep your heart ready 
for Him to use, and remember : 

"In weariness and painfullness, St. Paul 

Served God and pleased Him ; after-saints no less 

Can wait on and can please Him, one and all, 
In weariness and painfullness, 

By faith and hope triumphant through distress ; 

Not with the rankling service of a thrall ; 
But even as loving children trust and bless, 

Weep and rejoice, answering their Father's call, 
Work with tired hands, and forward, upward press, 

On sore, tired feet, still rising when they fall 
In weariness and painfulness." 



II. 



HINTS AND HELPS CONNECTED WITH THE 
PERSONAL TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS 
OF ILLNESS. 

" Is any grieved or tired ? Yea, by God's will ; 
Surely God's will alone is good and best, 
O, weary one, in weariness take rest, 

Discern thy good beneath a mask of ill." 

You ask me, clear F , to devote this 

Leaflet to the considerations of the personal 
trials and temptations of illness. I presume 
by personal you mean the special experi- 
ences that no one but the individual sufferer 
can fully enter into. The trials, physical, 
18 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



19 



mental and spiritual, St. Paul had in mind 
when he wrote, " Every man shall bear his 
own burden;" the weakness, sorrow and 
pain which no one can understand so well as 
the Lord Jesus. Do you believe this? You 
tell me, " Yes, in a sort of way," but you add, 
you never get any real comfort out of the 
belief. 

In reply I ask, " Did you ever get any real 
comfort from the earthly friends you love 
best till you knew them well enough to trust 
them ? " Just so it is with the Lord Jesus ; 
when you know Him well enough to trust 
Him you will get the comfort and help you 
need for times of sickness, suffering and 
trial. How can you gain this knowledge ? 
You say you have heard sermons, you have 
read the story of our Lord's life on earth, 
his death, resurrection and ascension, but 



20 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



all to no purpose. Yes, you have heard 
about the Lord, but that is very unlike know- 
ing Him. As J seek to make this difference 
plain again I refer to your earthly affections, 
for I know no illustration so fit to interpret 
the Heavenly love. Hence I repeat — How 
did you get to know the earthly friends you 
call the dearest? I think I see the heart 
smile that illumines your face, as softly you 
answer, "Why, they told me of their love, 
and I listened and believed." 

Very reverently I bid you repeat this ex- 
perience, and listen as you go to the Lord 
Jesus, and ask Him to tell you of a love that 
will never fail you, and which is as much be- 
yond human love, as Heaven is higher than 
earth. 

Paradoxical as it seems, the still small 
voice that unfolds this love is wonderfully 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 21 



distinct in illness, for "in all our afflictions 
He is afflicted." This truth is most tenderly 
manifested through that mysterious thing — 
pain. We cannot understand it. "Yet if 
we ponder on the incomprehensible nature 
of pain, mental and bodily, its invisibleness, 
its vividness, its exceeding sharpness and 
penetrating omnipresence in our whole being, 
its inscrutable origin, and the indissoluble 
link which binds it to sin, and lastly, its mys- 
terious relation to the passion and perfection 
of our Lord, we shall see reason to believe 
that a power so near and awful has many 
energies, and fulfills many designs in God's 
kingdom secret from us." It is hard to de- 
cide which is most difficult to bear, and which 
is most fraught with temptation, pain or 
weakness. Some invalids prefer sharp pain 
rather than prolonged weariness ; some have 



22 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



more natural courage and fortitude than 
others ; some are not so sensitive ; some 
pains are more difficult to bear patiently 
than some which are equally keen. This is 
especially true of illness which affects the 
mental powers. There are, too, some inter- 
nal pains of intense sharpness which involve 
peculiar trials. And some which seem to 
have no purpose save the enforcement of the 
fact that our souls are tabernacled in "bodies 
of humiliation. " 

But it is better not to contrast pain, just 
as it is better not to compare symptoms and 
measure weakness. They each affect people 
in different ways, according to the disease, 
constitution and temperament. Neverthe- 
less their chief temptations are much alike, 
and all invalids and sick people need to look 
to the Lord who is "very pitiful and of ten- 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



der mercy," for the strength, patience and 
submission which will enable them to bear 
pain and weakness as "unto Him and not to 

men." As you strive to do this, dear F , 

remember " He, Himself bore our sick- 
nesses." Whatever weakness and pain you 
may be called to endure, He knows all about 
it; He will be "the strength of your heart," 
He will hold you by your right hand, saying 
unto you, " Fear not." Remember also, you 
will never know the fullness of his strength 
until you know your utmost weakness, then 
it will be "made perfect." 

And now a word in reference to several of 
the subtle temptations which you tell me 
assail you through weakness. " Invalid 
habits," you call them, and for your own, as 
well as for the sake of those you love, I beg 
you guard against falling into them. They 



24 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



grow so fast ; without constant watching they 
become like weeds and overtop the flowers, 
and — to continue the use of metaphor — an 
invalid's heart needs to be tended like a gar- 
den if the sweet flowers of patience, humility, 
peace and love are to be kept in bloom. 
And so I urge, do not indulge yourself in. 
minding noise, light, and the numberless 
little things which it is so easy to find disturb- 
ing. Then, too, by yielding to the discom- 
fort they cause, and permitting friends to 
prevent them, you put yourself into a position 
of minding them more the next time they 
occur. The better and the happier w r ay is to 
try to make as few things necessary to your- 
self as possible, and deny yourself in little 
things. For it is a mistake to think the mere 
fact of being ill will supply all the discipline 
you need. It is sweet to have friends think 



THE GARMENT OE PRAISE. 25 

so, but if you are true to your own heart you 
know you must be on the watch lest selfish- 
ness creeps in. And it is so much easier to 
let it in than it is to keep it out ! 

You will need to struggle also, in order 
not to become morbid, and there is ever 
present danger of centering thought on self, 
and a self-centered person so quickly be- 
comes indifferent to the interests of others. 
A helpful remedy in overcoming the tendency 
to these faults is to try to think and speak 
little about your own feelings, symptoms and 
ailments. It is well, also, as far as you can, 
to act and speak as you used to do, and strive 
to learn something every day, even if it be 
only a verse from the Bible, or poetry, just 
enough to keep mind and memory in exer- 
cise, for the habit of mental indolence grows 
apace. This matter of effort is a trial to all 



26 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



invalids, and weakness shows in such differ- 
ent ways, you must be careful not to judge 
others. Efforts which stimulate and rest you 
may increase weariness and languor of body 
and soul in another. 

But the question remains, What are you to 
do ? What efforts ought you to make ? 
Sometimes a physician decides what ought, 
and what ought not to be attempted, and 
then the way is plain. Simple obedience is 
duty. When a physician does not express 
an opinion, the following suggestions may 
prove helpful. The first applies to every 
need. Tell your Heavenly Father all about 
your trouble, and ask Him to show you his 
will, and to show you what to do, and then 
to give you grace to do it. Do you tell me 
"the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," 
and that strength seems to fail you even 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 27 



when you try to pray? Yes, dear, I know; 
all you can do at such times is to remember 
that God can understand you without words. 
" Every wish is like a prayer with God." It 
is at your heart He looks. Remember Da 
vid's prayer of old : " Lord, Thou knowest 
my desire, and my groaning is not hid from 
Thee." " It is the posture of the soul, the 
renunciation of the will, or rather our will 
being so united with his that they are no 
longer two wills, but as one will, that God 
looks at." He knoweth your frame. He 
remembereth that you are dust ; not once 
knew it, but remembers it. I have wandered 
from the suggestions I promised to pass on 
to you, but I will include them in my next 
Leaflet, in which we will also consider some 
of the disappointments and discouragements 
that belong to the personal trials of illness. 



28 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



I want to remind you, too, of an invalid's 
special duties and responsibilities. Chief 
among them rank patience, submission, hope, 
sympathy and contentment, the grace which 
enables us to " offer to God the sacrifice of 
thanksgiving," and cheerfulness, by which 
we "make melody in our hearts unto the 
Lord." 

As you seek these graces your inward life 

will grow more restful, dear F , and you 

will find that for your spiritual growth this 
discipline of restrained work is more valu- 
able, and accomplishes more than when you 
let " the energies of self " outrun your physi- 
cal strength. And remember: 

" Choice befits not our condition, 
Acquiescence is the best." 



III. 



DISAPPOINTMENTS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS 
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ILLNESS. 

I promised, dear F , that in to-day's 

Leaflet I would counsel you regarding the 
disappointments, discouragements, duties and 
responsibilities of illness. As a prelude I beg 
you remember you must not wonder at dis- 
couragements. For " the spiritual life of the 
soul is of such a tender texture, and we can 
grasp with our faith so much more than we 
bring into practice, the inconsistency of the 
two can hardly fail to sometimes prove per- 
plexing." But God is Love, and the more 
29 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



simply you lay hold on his love, the more 
you strive to love Him, without too much 
pondering over your own inconsistencies, the 
better. Try to rest in this thought of God's 
love, and thus you will grow more into loving 
Him, and when once love to God really takes 
possession of your soul, comfort will quickly 
follow. 

Meanwhile, do not wound his tenderness 
by repeating the long-ago cry, " All things 
are against me." Your blind complaining 
will not cause the Lord to alter his purpose 
concerning you. He will not withhold the 
trials that are sent to help you grow in grace. 
Would an earthly parent ? Is it not strange 
that when God is acting most the part of a 
Father, is just the time when we are most 
apt to forget " the exhortation that speaketh 
to us as unto children ? " And yet, how 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



sweet it is to look up and say, "Abba, 
Father ; " how sweet to leave all with Him, 
because He knows all our needs ; and the 
greater our necessities the closer we are en- 
folded "within the shadow of his hand." If 
you trust Him, illness will reveal this to you 
in numberless ways. He will strengthen you, 
even when your tired body rests upon " a 
bed of languishing," for He has promised to 
" make all your bed in sickness." 

Think ! His precious word, his supporting 
love and grace will be to you a bed of conso- 
lation. It is, indeed, a soft pillow, redolent 
with refreshment for a weary soul. But in 
spite^ of all this, do not expect to entirely 
escape sad thoughts and hours of weariness, 
when bodily pain and weakness are causing 
you to " groan being burdened." It is not 
easy to bear pain well, but you must do "the 



32 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



next best thing" — bear it as well as you can. 
" Pain is in itself a sharp discipline," and 
hard to bear ; and there is no virtue in mak- 
ing too light of it. Pain is pain, weakness is 
weakness, sorrow is sorrow, and God who 
sends them knows how real they are, and He 
knows how real our efforts are to bear them 
bravely. 

Meanwhile, be patient ; remember, " as 
the outward man decays the inward is re- 
newed day by day." Just how this spiritual 
renewing is accomplished we cannot tell, 
neither can we explain the why of permitted 
suffering, sin and sorrow. Nevertheless, we 
know as frost and cold are forerunners of 
the time of the singing of birds, the time 
when the flowers appear, so the discipline of 
pain and weakness foreruns the time when 
we will "praise Him for the health of his 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



countenance. " We also know "we cannot 
drift beyond his love and care." I am 
always so glad the especial word of comfort 
for disappointment and discouragement tells 
us that "no chastening for the present 
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, neverthe- 
less afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit 
of righteousness unto them which are exer- 
cised thereby, wherefore lift up the hands 
which hang down." 

What a world of comfort there is, too, in 
the assurance that our Lord is " touched by 
the feeling of our infirmities." He knows 
them all — your pain, your failures, your 
weakness, your everything. " Fret not," but 
as you " suffer according to the will of God 
commit yourself into his hands." 

" Leave God to order all thy ways, 
And hope in Him, whate'er betide ; 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



Thou'lt find Him in the evil days 

An all-sufficient strength and guide ; 
Who trusts in God's unchanging love, 
Builds on the rock that naught can move. 

What can these anxious cares avail — 
These never-ceasing moans and sighs ? 

What can it help us to bewail, 
Each painful moment as it flies ? 

Our cares and trials do but press 

The heavier for our bitterness. 

Only your restless heart keep still, 
And wait in cheerful hope, content 

To take whate'er his gracious will, 
His all-discerning love hath sent ; 

Nor doubt our inmost wants are known 

To Him who chose us for his own ! 

He knows when joyful hours are best ; 

He sends them as He sees ft meet; 
When thou hast borne its fiery test, 

And art made free from all deceit, 
He comes to thee all unaware, 
And makes thee own his loving care. 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 35 

Nor, in the heat of pain and strife, 

Think God hath cast thee off unheard, 

Trust His rich promises of grace, 

So shall they be fulfill'd in thee ; ^ 
God never yet forsook at need 
The soul that trusted Him indeed! " 

Yes, leave all to God, and let him gradu- 
ally unfold what He would have you do — 
and be. Observe that little word let. He is 
willing and able to deliver you from all your 
foes. Discouragement and disappointment 
are foes to an invalid's growth in grace, so, 
to secure this deliverance I repeat you must 
commit your soul to your Lord, fully " per- 
suaded " of its safety, as was the apostle of 
old, when he said so emphatically, " I am 
persuaded that He is able to keep that which 
I have committed to Him." Paul does not 
define the all ; that was comprehended in his 



36 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



"that which ;" but his life tells it out in its 
most absolute, obedient surrender. An in- 
valid's life is peculiarly rich in opportunities 
for imitation of this " obedient surrender." 
and it is never so " shut in " but that it can 
" tell out " to some one the secret of its 
peace, patience and submission. 

This trio of graces suggest the duties and 
responsibilities of illness, some of which we 
will consider. One of the most important is 
the duty of contentment, and yet there are 
few things by which sick people are more 
tempted than discontent. It manifests itself 
in complaining, murmuring, dissatisfaction, 
difficulty in being pleased, or in thinking 
one's own illness the most trying known to 
mortals. This leads an invalid to crave for 
sympathy and attention when in the society 
of others, and when alone it tempts to brood- 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



ing over trials, the result of which always is 
increased hopelessness and distress. The 
best remedy is to try to live out of self by 
cultivating sympathy, which should be espe- 
cially wrought in us by sickness and suffering. 
In truth, no sick person has truly understood 
the lesson illness is designed to teach until 
they have learned this. And you will need 
to go out of self to learn it, for it is only by 
dwelling in the love of God that we can show 
forth his love and his sympathy. Yes, the 
way to increase your power of sympathy is to 
seek to increase love. He who was perfect 
in love had perfect sympathy. 

I think few graces grow so quickly, still 
we need to constantly exercise ourselves in 
it. To do this you must keep in mind that 
" nothing is a trifle which either tries another 
person or affects their welfare." Also re- 



38 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



member if you treat their confidence lightly 
in little things they may be thrown back, and 
not expecting to receive sympathy for some 
greater thing, withhold that also, and so, 
from the want of that little act of self-denial, 
you may have prevented yourself from the 
delight and blessing of helping others. But 
I need not dwell on this dear blessing of 
giving sympathy by which an invalid, though 
unable to " go about doing good," can yet 
" follow in the blessed steps of Christ's most 
holy life." Think ! weak, sick and weary 

though you may be, dear F , you still can 

comfort and help others. A word said with 
real tenderness and true feeling may heal, 
soothe and help some troubled soul to a de- 
gree that you can never estimate in this life. 
You say a word is such a little thing ! True 
enough ; but little things tell on daily life far 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



rnore than great ones. Did you ever notice 
the delicate little touches in the gospel record 
of our Lord's life on earth ? Search them 
out, as you are able, and they will help you 
to understand there is nothing so small but 
that we may honor God by using it for his 
service. Think of Christ's comprehensive 
compassion. He never recognized the limi- 
tations of "too small, too little." He said: 
" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden." He " healeth all thy diseases." 
It made no difference to Him what the dis- 
ease was. Let us strive like Him to give * 
" full measure pressed down," and remember 
He said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me." And this is not all, for 
as you give sympathy and love for Christ's 
sake He will give you a deeper and deeper 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



knowledge and realization of his own sym- 
pathy, which " passeth knowledge." 

Now just a word regarding patience. An 
invalid needs it so much, and in so many 
ways. In a brief illness the demands are 
comparatively few ; it is when the weary days 
and no less weary nights pass on, one after 
another, bringing their own trials, that its 
full need is felt ; then it is we understand 
why, in the Church of England's prayer for 
all sufferers the petition is included, that 
" they may have patience under their suffer 
ings." A quiet mind, staying itself on God, 
we are told is the " groundwork of patience." 
Our divine Master does not send us to the 
" warfare at our own charge." He will help 
us just in proportion to our confidence in 
Him. Honor Him by expecting the help 
He has promised, and bring this expectation 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



into all the details of your hourly life. Try 
to bear patiently even the great trial of your 
own impatience ! A little while and the temp- 
tation and the provocations to impatience 
will all be ended. The bright and joyous 
things are all before you. There shall be 
"no more pain," " He shall change your vile 
body and fashion it like unto his glorious 
body ; " but you must " with patience wait " 
for it — wait and hope. Meanwhile " the God 
of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in 
believing, that ye may abound in hope. ,, 
And hope makes all things become realities, 
even as though they were already given to 
us; we possess them now; they are ours, if 
we are Christ's — and Christ is God's! 



"Yea, Christ hath died, Christ is risen again, 
Wherefore both life and death grow plain 
To us who wax and wane." 



4 



IV. 

CONCERNING MEDICAL ADVICE AND VISITS. 
INTERCOURSE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. 
GIVING TROUBLE. TAKING OPIATES. NURSES 
AND ATTENDANTS. 

You ask me, dear F , to consider in 

this Leaflet the trials and perplexities which 
come to you — and hence you infer to other 
invalids — through the means taken for your 
relief, and through the source of your dear- 
est joys. You say your chief earthly happi- 
ness is found in the love of your dear family 
and friends. Yet even this and the precious 
42 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



life of home — the familiar routine which you 
would not wish altered — sometimes become 
a trial almost beyond your power of bearing 
cheerfully and submissively. I know it is 
hard not to rebel against the limitations of 
illness and weakness, and the old time life is 
so near, so dear, and yet so unapproachable. 
Perhaps you are only separated from the 
family circle by a closed door ; you can hear 
the loved voices, the sound of laughter, at 
times you even catch words — and yet — 
Truly this being " so near and yet so far" 
is a sore trial. Nevertheless, like many 
another experience it has a sunny as well as 
a shady side, and this new phase of life, this 
being " put aside," as you term it, requires 
new and special teaching. Life is assuming 
a different aspect; a new feeling of responsi- 
bility rises up before you. " It is no longer 



44 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



how best to do the day's work, but how best 
to live the day's life, with all its burden of 
suffering and weakness to God's glory ? " You 
will have much to test your earnestness of 
purpose, much to purge out the leaven of the 
old nature that the Christ-life may be made 
manifest in you. But, trust this testing with 
your Heavenly Helper as simply as you trust 
Him with your hourly existence, and, unless 
I am much mistaken, you will soon find even 
this banishment, which seems, and is, so 
hard, has blessed compensations. It is a 
condition full of hope for the development of 
the " afterward " yielding of " peaceable 
fruits," not only for yourself, but for your 
nearest and dearest. It has blessings also 
for those who only occasionally come into 
your presence, and for some, perhaps, whom 
you may never meet in this world. 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



This outreaching, expansive power of an 
invalid's influence is like the fragrance of 
flowers that blossom in the shade, and some- 
times in darkness, even more pervasive than 
the sweet odor of the flowers of sunshine. 

I need hardly suggest the rare comfort 
contained in this emblem for the Lord's hid- 
den ones, the " shut in" people, who blossom 
in the dark, because they have laid hold of 
the strength that giveth "songs in the night," 
and * maketh even the darkness light round 
about them." But, remember, in the spir- 
itual life you can only give out in proportion 
as you take in. And as our best friendships 
and dearest comforts grow out of ministry to 
others, you need to ask much, that you may 
have much to give. As I remind you of this 
I am not unmindful that the subject of social 
life is a very difficult one to sick people. 



46 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



Some find the society of friends beneficial, 
while to others it is a trial. A simple rule 
that applies to either case is, ask God to bless 
the visit in the way He sees best, and strive 
to receive each guest as the harbinger of 
good, even if not of enjoyment. Strive also 
to let each teach you some lesson of patience, 
faith, hope or love. Then remember the vis- 
itor may be sent to receive from you consola- 
tion and help, as well as to give it to you. 
Earnestly endeavor to have a kind greeting 
for all with whom you come in contact. You 
know not what blessed influence you may 
have on those of your own household, and 
those who come to see you. " They may be 
strong and healthy now, but illness may soon 
overtake them ; the remembrance of your 
cheerful sick room may prevent them from 
dreading it as they would have done if their 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



impressions of a sick room had been only 
those of gloom and sadness. They may be 
tempted to much murmuring and discontent; 
the remembrance of your cheerful face may 
be a reproof to them, or it may lead them to 
think what it could be that made you cheerful 
amidst so many causes of trial." Try, then, 

dear F , in view of this to read in all the 

drawings of God, leading you to draw others 
to Him, how He has been secretly drawing 
you on to lead you to the consecration of 
yourself in the higher life of union — union 
with the sufferings of Jesus, with his loneli- 
ness, with his solitude, and with his patience. 

Intercourse with nurses and attendants is 
a subject akin to social intercourse, only the 
former is an enforced companionship, and 
one from which you may receive much help- 
ful discipline if you resolve to do so. I do 



48 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



not mean that you should seek those who 
will try you. On the contrary it is far better 
to choose those who seem most likely to suit 
you. For any way you will find enough fric- 
tion ; you will find something not quite to 
your taste. And they will find something in 
you not quite to their liking. You will need 
in this, as in everything, to ask for God's 
help, that your example may show the beauty 
of holiness, patience and forbearance. I 
want to warn you just here not to fall into 
the way of thinking that you " merely give 
trouble. " It is a distressing thought, and 
one that is apt to degenerate into thinking 
your friends and those who wait on you 
think so too, and if you are at all inclined to 
be morbid, the fear that they are growing 
weary of you will soon follow. It is right 
that you should remember your illness is a 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 49 



trial to others — and that the more tenderly 
they love you the greater the trial is. But 
rather than letting this thought depress you, 
try to become more gentle and considerate, 
and try to be felt as a bright cheering pres- 
ence in your home, rather than adding by 
your own gloom to the sorrow felt for your 
illness. Again I repeat, try to make the in- 
terests of those about you your interests ; en- 
courage them to speak of themselves and 
their affairs. The more you learn to bear 
the burdens of other people, the lighter your 
own will become. There are, of course, 
times when an invalid is unable to admit 
friends, and sometimes even the members of 
the family. But endeavor to make these 
times as seldom as possible. You say this 
is a hard lesson, but with each effort it be- 
comes less difficult. 



50 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



I want to add a word regarding this matter 
of "giving trouble." There are many ways 
in which you can avoid it without the appear- 
ance of doing so. You can be careful, as far 
as possible, to arrange your habics and hours 
so that they accord with those about you ; 
taking your meals at the same time ; making 
your free and leisure times those which will 
best suit other people. Resolve also, to 
think as little as possible about food, but 
to take what is brought thankfully, even 
when you do not quite fancy it, remembering, 
" whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever 
you do, to do all to the glory of God." 

And now we come to a subject which I 
hardly know how to meet. I mean medical 
advice and medical visits. Indeed I only 
venture to touch upon it by a few suggestions 
regarding your duty toward your physician. 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 51 



Do not trouble him with questions about 
your symptoms. You will gain no comfort 
by doing so. You may lead him to give you 
some unwelcome opinion. You had better 
go on patiently content to obey him. If he 
bids you "Be quiet," keep quiet, and remem- 
ber God does not want active work from you 
when the command is " Lie still." The true 
devotion of your soul is to be manifested in 
patient, cheerful yielding of your will to 
God's will. Let your physician see that this 
sweet submission and obedience is "not a 
thing of name, but a reality." If your soul 
rises up to a life of faith, " those things over 
which the will struggles, which for the most 
part have their root in self, must be yielded." 

Always answer the questions your doctor 
asks clearly, and without reservation, but 
the less you volunteer the better. Do not 



52 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



object to the remedies your physician may 
suggest. Do not say that you cannot take 
this or that medicine ; the effect may now be 
quite different to what it was at a former 
time. 

But enough, save a word regarding taking 
opiates. It is often a question of grave diffi- 
culty, and the doubt whether it is right gen- 
erally comes from two causes : the fear of 
acquiring a habit which is almost sure to in- 
crease as the need increases, and the question 
whether it is right to try to subdue the sense 
of pain when God has sent the pain. These 
fears are reasonable and contain truth. Cer- 
tainly it would be exceedingly wrong to ac- 
quire a habit of taking either stimulant or 
opiate when there is no necessity for either. 
But if a physician considers an opiate need- 
ful, a patient has 'no more right to refuse to 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



take it than he has to refuse any medicine. 
I will end this Leaflet by an extract I copied 
years ago, and which has helped me with this 
difficulty: "The nature and measure of all 
medicine taken should be regulated by a 
medical man, and we should take all these 
things passively from his hand, looking to 
him as the representative and the servant of 
God sent by Him to relieve us. If we find 
the opiates cloud our minds we should of 
course mention it to the physician. . . 
Learn the quantity to take and , strictly keep 
to it. Never increase it because it produces 
pleasant effects ; always take it simply as a 
matter of obedience to your doctor's order. 
It is certainly true that God sends pain, but 
the argument which would prevent us from 
taking opiates would apply to all remedies, 
and we should refuse to try any lest they 



54 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



should alleviate our sufferings. The argu- 
ment that our Lord refused alleviations does 
not hold good, for He drank the whole cup 
of suffering that He might know it all, and 
understand it all, and be able to sympathize 
with us. He refused every alleviation, that 
He might not escape from tasting one drop 
which any of his followers might hereafter be 
called to drink." 

"Then seek to please Him, whatso'er He bids thee ! 

Whether to do, to suffer, to lie still ; 
'Twill not matter by what path He led us, 

If in it all we sought to do His will." 



REGARDING PRAYER FOR RECOVERY : CONVA- 
LESCENCE, ITS PLEASURES AND ITS TRIALS. 

" Whatso it be, howso it be, Amen. 

Blessed it is, believing, not to see ; 

God's will is best for man whose will is free : 

God's will is better to us, yea, than ten 

Desires whereof He holds and weighs the key, 

He knows all wants, allots each where and when, 

Whatso it be." 

You tell me, dear F , you are per- 
plexed by the question, Is it right to pray for 
recovery ? I know you are not a member of 
that branch of our Lord's Church which turns 
to the prayer-book for an answer to many 
55 



56 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



such perplexing questions, but I also know 
you will welcome the help it gives. Hence 
I meet your query by the words of the prayer 
which teaches us even at the extreme period 
of illness to pray : 

" We know, O Lord, that no word is impossible 
with Thee, and that if Thou wilt Thou canst even 
yet raise him up, and grant him a longer continuance 
amongst us." 

And in the Collect for " the Communion 
of the sick," there is a prayer that bodily 
health may be recovered, but it is added : 
" If it be Thy gracious will." This seems 
to me a good pattern for prayers for recovery. 
Do you tell me that your question is more 
subtle than this simple reply? Do you 
remind me that you belong to this nineteenth 
century, and that the subjective spirit of the 
age has taken possession of you, and it in- 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



sists on looking on truth, not as it is in itself, 
in its utter independence of the mind of 
man, but as it presents itself to man's mind, 
or rather , as man's mind in very varying 
words apprehends it ? Hence you ask, 
" Will God indeed answer prayer when it 
takes the form of a petition for some specific 
blessing which must be either granted or 
refused ? " What is termed by a certain 
class of modern thinkers " one of the most 
remarkable conquests of modern thought " 
suggests as a barrier against the efficacy of 
such prayer the " scientific idea of law." " It 
may have been pardonable/' the argument 
runs, " to pray for rain, for health, for freedom 
from pestilence and famine, when these things 
were supposed to depend upon the caprice 
of an omnipotent will. But the scientific 
idea of law renders these prayers absurd." 



58 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



Canon Liddon, who, " being dead yet 
speaketh," — as all good departed men and 
women do, either by influence or written 
words — meets this assertion by asking : 
" Does not the very word law involve us in 
some indistinctness of thought ? What do we 
mean by law ? When we speak of a law of 
nature, are we thinking of some self-sustained 
invisible force, of which we can give no 
account except that here it is, a matter of 
experience ? Or do we mean by a law of 
nature only a principle which, as our obser- 
vation shows us, appears to govern particular 
actions of the Almighty Agent who made 
and who upholds the universe ? If the 
former, let us frankly admit that we have not 
merely fettered God's freedom, we have, alas ! 
ceased to believe in Him. If, however, we 
mean by law the observed regularity with 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 59 

which God works in nature as in grace, then, 
in our contact with law, we are dealing not 
with a brutal, unintelligent, unconquerable 
force, but with the free will of an intelligent 
and moral Artist, who works in his perfect 
freedom with sustained and beautiful sym- 
metry. Where is the absurdity of asking 
Him to hold his hand or to hasten his work ? 
He, to whom we pray, may be trusted to 
grant or to refuse a prayer, as may seem best 
to the highest wisdom and the truest love. 
And if He grant it, He is not without re- 
sources, even although we should have asked 
Him to suspend what we call a natural law. 
To pray for rain or sunshine, for health or 
food, is just as reasonable as to pray for gifts 
which the soul only can receive. All such 
prayers presuppose the truth that God is not 
the slave of his own rules of action ; that he can 



60 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



innovate upon his work without forfeiting his 
perfection ; that law is only our way of con- 
ceiving of his regularized working, and not 
an external force which governs and moulds 
what we recognize as his work. It dissolves 
into thin air as we look hard at it, this 
fancied barrier of inexorable law ; and as the 
mist clears off, beyond there is the throne of 
the Moral King of the universe, in whose 
eyes material symmetry is as nothing when 
compared with the spiritual well-being of his 
moral creatures. 

Observe further that every prayer for 
specific blessings in a Christian soul is tac- 
itly, if not expressly conditioned. The three 
conditions which are always understood 
are given at the beginning of the Lord's 
Prayer. In effect these three conditions are 
only one. If a change of weather, or aresto- 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 61 



ration to health, or any blessing be prayed 
for, a Christian petitioner deliberately wills 
that his prayer should be refused, supposing 
that to grant it should in any way obscure 
God's glory in other minds, or hinder the 
advance of his kingdom, and so contravene 
what must be his will. Every Christian 
tacitly adds to every prayer, " Nevertheless, 
not my will, but Thine be done." He knows 
that his own highest object may be best 
secured by the refusal of the very blessing 
for which he pleads ; and he puts his finite 
knowledge and his narrow sympathies into 
the hand of Infinite Wisdom and Infinite 
Love, with perfect confidence that the final 
decision will be the best answer to his real 
and deepest prayer. It is thus he realizes 
the promise, " Every one that asketh receiv- 
eth." He too, receives that which he really 



62 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



wants, though his specific petition should be 
refused. 

If you agree to all this, dear F , I think 

you will no longer hesitate to pray for resto- 
ration to health, content to leave the issue with 
the Lord, " Who healeth all thy diseases," 
and who knows whether bodily weakness is 
needed to promote spiritual health, and hence 
that its continuance is the best answer to 
your prayer. I wish I could hang on the 
walls of your and all invalids' rooms the en- 
graving of Ary Scheffer's tender illustration 
of the trust that rests in the Lord's love, satis- 
fied, like the helpless sheep on the Shepherd's 
shoulder, content, because He will carry you 
through storm as well as sunshine ; through 
life as well as death. That is his part, and 
yours, dear, is to come to him with the sim- 
plicity of a trusting heart, in the helplessness 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 63 



of weakness and want to touch " the hem of 
his garment," that you may be " made 
whole." 

Remember, He asks but one thing ; you 
must take all He sends, bitter as well as sweet. 
And for a consolation in the bitter hours He 
has promised, " Lo, I am with you. " 

Some invalids call the returning to health 
a bitter trial, and you tell me you are one of 
them. You had been told that recovery was 
impossible ; you had met the wrench of part- 
ing from your dear ones, the struggle was 
over ; you felt that soon all temptation, all sin 
and sorrow would be ended. Soon you would 
be " forever with the Lord." But it pleased 
Him to restore you, and — strange as it may 
seem to those who have never been thus 
tried — at first you found it almost harder to 
be content to live, than it was to be willing 



64 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



to die. Then that feeling passes ; the grace 
which made you willing to go makes you 
willing to stay if it be the Lord's will. But 
the trial of convalescence is not ended, the 
glad glow of returning vigor, the feeling of 
joy and exhilaration that it brings, lasts at 
first but for a brief time, and in exchange you 
have exceeding languor and weariness unut- 
terable. Nor is this all. As you gain strength 
you find the old temptations are waiting to 
greet you. You thought you had lost your 
susceptibility to them, but, alas ! you are just 
as open to them as before, only now you have 
less physical strength to resist them. Another 
and a sore trial linked with coming back to 
life in this world is a certain dimming of spir- 
itual realities. 

Heaven had seemed so near and real, 
but now life's every-dayness begins to crowd 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



65 



the unseen out, by putting in thoughts 
of earthly things. You have not regained 
your old-time strength, little fatigue seems 
great ; you are restless ; but be patient ■ 
much of this discouragement is physical, and 
comes from the effort to resume " the duties, 
fatigues and wear of life," with a weakened 
body and nerves. By degrees, as strength 
returns, you will regain energy. Meanwhile 
do not miss the precious meaning contained 
in this discipline of taking up life and duty. 
It will teach you so much if you will only 
" learn of Him who is meek and lowly in 
heart," if you only " yield yourself unto God, 
as those that are alive from the dead, and your 
members as instrumentsof righteousness unto 
God . . . for you are not under the law, but 
under grace." 

Do you ask, why then are you so often dis- 



66 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



couraged ? Why do the trials of convales- 
cence distress you ? Why did Peter sink 
when the Lord bade him walk upon the 
water ? You know the answer, but I beg you 
ponder it. He looked away from Christ. 



VI. 



THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. THE 
FEAR OF DEATH AND THE FEAR TAKEN 
AWAY. THE DESIRED HAVEN. SAFE AN- 
CHORAGE. 

" Death is another life. We bow our heads 
In going out, we think, and enter straight 
Another golden chamber of the King's, 
Larger than this we leave, and lovelier." 

You tell me, dear F , that the thought 

of death has taken possession of your mind 
and with the thought " fearfulness and 
trembling have come into your soul." I 
understand the feeling. It is wont to be thus 
when for the first time the familiar mystery 
67 



68 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



and the inevitableness of this departure from 
which there is no return lays hold of one like 
the grasp of a strong hand. Its exceeding 
vagueness ; its exceeding loneliness of all 
human companionship ; the fact that no one 
has ever returned to tell of the way that 
leads through the valley of death is in itself 
sufficient to arouse emotions of profound 
solemnity and awe. And with the fear, 
consciousness of sin is also deepened. You 
realize as never before your unfitness to meet 
God. You recall your sins, not merely the 
great omissions and commissions, but the 
numberless " little things " done and left 
undone. Yes, dear, I know, and no wonder 
the heart fails. But in all this you have been 
only looking at self. " Looking unto Jesus," 
and away from self, you will find fear turned 
to hope. You say, Yes, hope in a certain 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 69 



way, but not a clear shining faith that makes 
the prospect glad. You repeat you are not 
one of those who anticipate death with no 
more dread than "the passing from one room 
into another." You are not even blessed 
with a "willingness to depart." You fear 
dying, you shrink from it. I think there is 
nothing wrong in your feeling. I find nothing 
in Holy Scripture that indicates that God 
condemns it. On the contrary I find much 
to prove that our Lord regarded mortal 
death — the birth of immortal life — as a 
crucial test for the faith of his people. 
Hence He has provided rich promises of 
dying grace for the dying hour. And I have 
always seen the fear of death taken away 
wonderfully at the last from those who have 
dreaded it all their lives. 

There is no reason to be discouraged 



70 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



because you cannot grasp that grace in 
advance. What you have to do now is " to 
trust that the Love which has met the needs 
of life many a time with unexpected and sur- 
prising adaptations will, when the time comes 
and the necessity is close at hand, give the 
needed grace to die." 

Meanwhile remember, "we are conquerors 
of death when we are able to look beyond 
it." Strive then to look upon it as the last 
trial you have to encounter before reaching 
the "rest that remaineth for the people of 
God," before reaching the blessedness of 
seeing the Lord, the joy of being reunited to 
those you love, those who have gone from 
earth to heaven, the home of " many man- 
sions," of which Christ said, " I go to pre- 
pare for you." 

" Whoso is wise will ponder these things, 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 71 



and he shall understand the loving kindness 
of the Lord." 

I have wandered from your assertion that 
the weight of sin presses heavy with the dread 
of death. Be thankful for this if it leads you 
closer to the Cross, so close that you lose 
self and sin in its shadow, as you give your- 
self to Him, who for your sake carried the 
burden of sin, and who has promised to be 
your " help and deliverer." Do not limit 
this promise to sin only, for while " his 
name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save 
his people from their sins," He has also 
" tasted death " for you. He has redeemed 
it from its loneliness. " He hath overcome 
the sharpness of death and opened the king- 
dom of Heaven to all believers." " He is 
near that justifleth you." He is the com- 
panion of every one whom He calls to pass 



72 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 

through the valley of the shadow of death. 
You need fear no evil; his rod and his staff 
will comfort you. He knows all about dying, 
" all its exceeding vagueness, all its fears and 
temptations, all its darkness and dreariness." 
Yes, He knows every step of the way. " Fear 
not, He is with you, He will hold you by your 

right hand." Believe this, dear F , and 

" Let not your heart be troubled, neither let 
it be afraid." 

As for the time and manner of death, try 
to have no will of your own about either; you 
cannot choose if you would. Your Heavenly 
Father will call you as " seemeth good in his 
sight." It is better, also, not to live in the 
constant atmosphere and presence of death ; 
that would unfit you for life, but it is well 
now and then to talk with death as friend 
talketh with friend, and to anticipate the ex- 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



perience of that land to which it will lead us. 
Faber's hymn, " Wishes about Death," is 
so full of the rest and quietness of leaving all 
to Christ, and yet so true to one's own indi- 
viduality, I beg you to read and learn it. 
And in all your thoughts about death, re- 
member, God loves not according to our 
worthiness or unworthiness, but according to 
our necessity ; and, 

" If you want rest, die with Him, 
If joy, ascend with Him." 

This leads us to the thought of the heav- 
enly country where there is no more dying. 
For while the Kingdom of Heaven belongs 
to us now, as truly as to the blessed here- 
after, it is the afterward we are considering. 
Yes, we are thinking to-day of the bright and 
blessed Home of life, and love, and rest to 



74 THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



which we are traveling, and where we are 
not afraid to let our dearest go, where I trust 
you are no longer afraid to go yourself, dear 

F , in response to the heavenly Love 

which calls you, saying, " Come unto me and 
I will give you rest." And remember, " eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it 
entered into the heart of man to conceive the 
things which God hath prepared for them 
that love Him." In the hope of all this how 
the future broadens ! How silence grows 
full of music ; how we begin to know the 
meaning of the words which tell of " songs 
and everlasting joy." Only have faith, then 
the promise is so sure, " ye shall obtain," 
even as your dear ones have obtained en- 
trance into the Heavenly Home. Yes, they 
are at rest — safe Home — with Christ. This 
we know, for we know his prayer : " Father, 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 75 



I will that those whom Thou hast given me, 
be with me where I am." 

Meanwhile I repeat, be not afraid, only 
believe ; and in the deepest weakness you 
will meet strength, such as you never knew 
before, for the Lord will be with you. And 
for the waiting time take heart of grace and, 

" Complain not that the way is long, 
What road is weary that leads there ? 

But let the angel take thy hand, 
And lead thee up the misty stair; 

And then, with beating heart await 

The opening of the golden gate." 

And then the afterward ! " He that over- 
cometh shall be clothed in white raiment, 
shall be before the throne of God, and shall 
serve Him day and night, shall hunger no 
more, neither thirst any more. . . . For 
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 



THE GARMENT OF PRAISE. 



shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
living fountains of waters, and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

" Safe Home, safe home in port! 

Rent cordage, shattered deck, 
Torn sails, provisions short, 

And only not a wreck ; 
But oh ! the joy upon that shore, 
To tell our voyage — perils o'er. 

" The lamb is in the fold 

In perfect safety penn'd ; 
The lion once had hold 

And thought to make an end : 
But One came by with wounded side 
And for the sheep the Shepherd died. 

" The exile is at Home ! 

O nights and days of tears, 
O longings not to roam, 

O sins, and doubts and fears — 
What matter now (when so men say) 
The King has wip'd those tears away." 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Oct. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

fi WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



A is 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (| 




021 623 582 4 



